Browsing by Author "McGrath, Daniel S."

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    Addiction Substitution and Concurrent Recovery in Gambling Disorder: Evidence from Multiple Studies
    (2020-08) Kim, Andrew Hyounsoo; Hodgins, David Carson; McGrath, Daniel S.; von Ranson, Kristin M.; Mudry, Tanya E.; Ledgerwood, David M.
    The dissertation aimed to increase our understanding of addiction substitution and concurrent recovery in gambling disorder. In Study 1, a systematic review was conducted to identify empirical studies on addiction substitution. A total of 79 studies met the inclusion criteria. Of the studies that provided statistical results, relatively few studies (18.18%) found support for addiction substitution. The majority of studies (50.91%) found support for a concurrent model of recovery. Addiction substitution was associated with worse treatment outcomes and increased risk of relapse. Males, younger age, greater substance use severity, and the presence of mental health disorders were associated with addiction substitution. In Study 2, a mixed-method study was conducted with 185 people who were recovered from gambling disorder and engaged in addiction substitution, concurrent recovery, or neither (i.e., controls). Semi-structured interviews were used to assess the processes (e.g., reasons, emotional state, helpfulness) associated with engaging in addiction substitution and concurrent recovery. Participants also completed a survey assessing their demographic, gambling, and psychological characteristics. The most frequently reported reason for increasing another addictive behavior was as a substitute coping mechanism, whereas a connection between the addictions (i.e., simultaneous use) was most commonly reported as the reason for engaging in concurrent recovery. Addiction substitution was associated with greater underlying psychological vulnerabilities. In Study 3, co-occurring patterns of problem gambling and addiction severity as well as their predictors were examined in a secondary analysis of a 5-year prospective longitudinal study of gambling and problem gambling (N= 4,121 participants). Predictors included demographics, mental health disorders, personality, stress, life satisfaction, happiness and social support. Six co-occurring patterns were identified. The largest co-occurring pattern was characterized by concurrent recovery. Several co-occurring patterns were characterized by moderate to severe problem gambling and addiction severity that remained stable over time. No co-occurring pattern represented addiction substitution. The presence of mental health disorders, stress, and life satisfaction significantly predicted the different co-occurring patterns. Taken together, the results suggest that individuals are more likely to engage in concurrent recovery compared to addiction substitution. However, addiction substitution is associated with greater severity of problems and worse treatment outcomes.
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    An Examination of the HEXACO Model of Personality in Alcohol Use Disorder, Cannabis Use Disorder, and Gambling Disorder
    (2018-09-05) Rash, Christina Lee; McGrath, Daniel S.; Hodgins, David; Lee, Kibeom
    Research within the field of addictive behaviours has found that personality traits as measured by the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality are predictive of engaging in substance use and gambling at problematic levels. However, the structure of the FFM has been criticized as being incomplete, with recent lexical studies identifying a sixth personality dimension. The aim of the present study was to examine this six-factor (HEXACO) model of personality in relation to disordered engagement in three addictive behaviours: alcohol (AUDs), cannabis (CUDs), and gambling (GDs). Four groups of participants (AUDs, CUDs, GDs, and healthy controls; N = 308) completed the 100-item HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised. Scores on the six subscales (honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) were compared across groups. Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed lower levels of honesty-humility among AUDs and GDs and higher levels of openness among CUDs relative to control participants. AUDs and GDs also reported lower levels of honesty-humility when compared to CUDs. Results support the utility of the HEXACO model in the field of addictive behaviours and highlight the potential role of honesty-humility in the development and maintenance of substance use disorders and behavioural addictions.
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    An Investigation of Cryptocurrency Owners: Examining the Role of Fallacious Gambling Beliefs and Conspiratorial Thinking
    (2024-08-13) Tuico, Kyle Andrew; McGrath, Daniel S.; Sears, Christopher R.; Lee, Kibeom; Radford, Scott K.
    Introduction: Cryptocurrencies have become widely popular speculative assets in recent years, attracting traders and investors to the gambling-like cryptocurrency market. Previous literature indicates that cryptocurrencies may appeal to those who distrust authorities or perceive potential financial gains despite the notable risks. Therefore, the present study investigated whether fallacious gambling beliefs and conspiratorial thinking, along with gambling and behavioural factors, predict cryptocurrency ownership and identification as a trader. Methods: Participants (N = 574; n = 278 cryptocurrency owners; n = 278 non-owners) were recruited to participate in a cross-sectional online survey through Connect, an online crowdsourcing platform. Respondents completed measures assessing cryptocurrency engagement, gambling involvement, problem gambling severity, trait impulsivity, gambling fallacies, and conspiratorial thinking. Results: Hierarchical logistic regressions identified several predictors of cryptocurrency ownership, including male gender, younger age, higher household income, more severe problem gambling, higher sensation seeking, and lower negative urgency. Among cryptocurrency owners, predictors of trading versus investing included younger age, lower susceptibility to gambling fallacies, and higher engagement frequency. Conclusion: Although the observed predictors suggest some overlap between cryptocurrency engagement and gambling, the absence of other associations indicates distinct differences that warrant further exploration. Developing a greater understanding of cryptocurrency owners’ characteristics provides stakeholders with valuable insight, helping inform programs that prevent risky cryptocurrency engagement.
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    Attentional Bias in Non-Smokers Who Use an Electronic Cigarette
    (2019-08-19) Fitzpatrick, Chelsea Louise; McGrath, Daniel S.; Sears, Christopher R.; Campbell, Tavis S.; Stea, Jonathan N.
    Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been gaining popularity in recent years and are now being used in large numbers by youth who smoke tobacco cigarettes as well as among youths who do not smoke. Previous research has indicated that substance users can develop attentional biases towards stimuli related to their use. Yet, the existence of attentional biases among users of e-cigarettes remains largely unexplored. Using a sample of non-smokers, the present study examined whether e-cigarette users develop an attentional bias toward e-cigarette stimuli and whether this can be transferred to traditional cigarette stimuli. Using eye-gaze tracking to identify attentional biases, it was found that e-cigarette users significantly differed in comparison to controls in terms of the average amount of time that they attended to e-cigarette stimuli. However, e-cigarette users did not preferentially attend to e-cigarette stimuli over neutral stimuli. Furthermore, e-cigarette users did not attend more to smoking stimuli over neutral stimuli. Rather, e-cigarette users appeared to avoid smoking cues. The results of this study indicate that e-cigarette users’ attention towards e-cigarettes is increased in comparison to non-users, which may have implications as to how they react to e-cigarette cues in real-world settings.
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    Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions: Longitudinal Consequences for Employee Fit, Satisfaction, and Turnover
    (2020-09-25) Lukic, Alexandra; Chapman, Derek S.; Lee, Kibeom; McGrath, Daniel S.; Turner, Nick
    Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been associated with significant consequences for both employees and organizations, yet there is a paucity of research on this increasingly prominent corporate restructuring event. Cross-sectional research on specific companies undergoing M&A activity has provided insight on potential reasons why M&A events are more likely to fail, including inadequate Human Resources practices. The present study aimed to fill these gaps by conducting longitudinal, multi-organizational research on the causal mechanisms by which M&A fail. Specifically, this was the first study to our knowledge to analyze employee turnover intentions, person-organization fit, and job satisfaction longitudinally in relation to M&A events that occurred within various companies and industries. Results indicated that employees who experience M&A in their current organization report higher turnover intentions, while person-organization fit and job satisfaction remain stable over time. These findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of the Unfolding Model of Turnover (Lee & Mitchell, 1994).
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    The Effect of Alcohol Cue Exposure on Gambling-Related Attentional Biases and Cravings among Poker Players who Drink
    (2019-08-29) Ritchie, Emma Victoria; McGrath, Daniel S.; Hodgins, David Carson; von Ranson, Kristin M.
    Alcohol is one of the most common substances used in conjunction with gambling, but the impact it has on gambling cravings and behaviours is poorly understood. The present study sought to determine whether exposure to an alcohol cue increased gambling cravings and preferential attention to gambling images in an eye-tracking task. Male poker players (n = 59) and non-gamblers (n = 59) were randomly assigned to an alcohol or neutral cue condition. All participants completed the same eye-tracking task, which featured pairs of gambling, alcohol, and neutral images. Alcohol and gambling cravings were measured before and after cue expose and after the eye-tracking task. Contrary to hypotheses, gamblers in the alcohol cue condition did not experience an increase in gambling cravings compared to gamblers in the neutral cue condition. Additionally, there were no differences in the way that gambling images were viewed by gamblers based on condition. However, participants in the alcohol cue condition preferentially attended to alcohol images more than participants in the neutral cue condition. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
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    An Examination of the Association Between Attention and Memory Processing in Depression Vulnerability
    (2020-09-11) Fernandez, Amanda Kathleen; Sears, Christopher R.; Dobson, Keith S.; McGrath, Daniel S.; von Ranson, Kristin M.
    Cognitive theories of depression propose that biases in information processing domains contribute to a vulnerability to depression. Most research has studied information processing in isolation, which has limited the understanding of how cognitive biases are associated and, most importantly, restricted the ability to adequately understand their potential collective influence on depression vulnerability. The present study used an eye-tracking task to measure attention to valenced words and incidental recognition memory paradigm to examine memory for the same valenced words in order to: 1) examine state and trait attention and memory biases in a cross-sectional sample of previously-depressed (N = 60), currently-depressed (N = 36), and never-depressed women (N = 51); 2) determine if attention biases during encoding moderate memory biases; and 3) determine if mood state impacts how attention biases moderate encoding, and subsequently memory biases. Findings support the importance of positive information processing as a potential vulnerability and resilience factor. Never-depressed women evidenced positive attention and memory biases that were also observed to cohere; however, while in a sad mood their recognition of positive words decreased and no coherence between attention and memory was observed. Blunted attention and memory for positive words was observed among the currently-depressed women, which was consistent with an anhedonic presentation. Coherence between attention and memory for positive processing was observed among the currently-depressed women. Previously-depressed women were observed to have a positive attention bias and negative memory bias; however, following the sad MI, the previously-depressed women evidenced blunted attention to positive words and a reduction in recognition of negative words. No coherence between attention and memory was observed within the previously-depressed women. Moreover, no coherence was observed for negative attention and memory biases across groups and mood conditions. The current results suggest the relationship between attention and memory are more complex than a direct linear relationship, especially during times where emotion regulation processes are likely to be activated. Theoretical implications for cognitive models of depression, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
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    Investigating Intranasal Oxytocin as a Treatment for Women's Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Feasibility Study
    (2018-09-14) Flynn, Michelle Jacqueline; Campbell, Tavis S.; Noel, Melanie; Bergeron, Sophie; McGrath, Daniel S.
    Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) affects approximately 5.7-26.6% of women in the general population and has limited treatment options. Administration of oxytocin (OT) has been associated with reductions in pain in other chronic pain conditions. The current feasibility study was the first to investigate the OT-pain association in women with CPP. The aims were: 1) determine if a clinically significant change in pain intensity (1-centimeter improvement on a 10-centimeter visual analogue scale) could be detected following intranasal OT administration; 2) identify challenges in treatment and study protocol implementation. Women with CPP (N=18) were recruited from chronic pain and gynecology clinics for this randomized, double-blind, within-subject crossover trial (Registration#NCT02888574). Exclusion criteria included pregnancy, primary diagnosis of endometriosis, dysmenorrhea, interstitial cystitis, functional bowel disorder, fibromyalgia, or neuropathic pain. Currently, 11 women have completed the trial (2-weeks OT, 2-weeks washout, 2-weeks placebo, with random order of OT and placebo). Women recorded symptoms of pain at baseline and in daily diaries. One participant dropped out due to headaches following placebo administration, one did not complete daily diaries, and two were randomized despite having pain only during intercourse, leaving seven women in the analyses. Clinically significant change was reported for average and current pain following OT and placebo administration. Self-reported treatment adherence was near perfect. Participants viewed the treatment as credible, anticipating improved pain. Daily diary adherence was good. Challenges with protocol implementation highlight the need for more systematic eligibility assessments and recruitment strategies, and moving daily diaries to an online platform. Overall, a clinically significant change was detected on pain and the treatment protocol was feasible, though some adjustments to the study protocol are warranted before a subsequent trial is completed.
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    An Investigation of the Relationship Between Gambling-Related Stigma and Help-Seeking Behaviours Among Online, Offline, and Mixed-Mode Disordered Gamblers
    (2022-09) Leslie, Rashida Diandra; McGrath, Daniel S.; Lee, Kibeom; Stea, Jonathan N.; Gibbs Van Brunschot, Erin
    Previous research has revealed differences in the experience of negative consequences and the likelihood of help-seeking relative to a gambler’s preferred mode of play (i.e., exclusively online, exclusively offline, and mixed-mode). Little research has identified and compared mixed-mode gamblers to exclusively online and offline gamblers, and although stigma has been recognized as a common barrier to seeking help for disordered gambling, there is a paucity of research that has examined the relationship between stigma and disordered gambling. Thus, the primary goal of the present study was to examine relationships between preferred gambling mode, gambling-related stigma, and help-seeking behaviours in a sample of disordered gamblers. A total of N = 517 disordered gamblers (n = 166 online gamblers, n = 171 offline gamblers, and n = 180 mixed-mode gamblers) completed measures related to their past six-month gambling behaviours, lifetime decision to seek help, endorsement of perceived and experienced stigma, and coping orientations toward gambling-related stigma. Results showed that (a) compared to offline gamblers, mixed-mode gamblers reported worse disordered gambling severity and a greater number of gambling-related harms; (b) the likelihood of lifetime help-seeking did not differ between groups; (c) among mixed-mode gamblers, secrecy and withdrawal coping orientations were negative and positive predictors of help-seeking, respectively; (d) a willingness to educate people about the realities of having gambling problems was predictive of help-seeking among offline gamblers; and (e) experienced stigma was a positive predictor of help-seeking, regardless of preferred gambling mode. Possible reasons for differences in help-seeking predictors and implications of this research are discussed.
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    Reward-Related Decision-Making Among Individuals with Current and Past Disordered Gambling: Implications for its Role in the Maintenance of Problem Gambling Behaviour
    (2018-07-17) Schluter, Magdalen Grace; Hodgins, David; McGrath, Daniel S.; Callahan, Brandy L.; Longman, Richard Stewart
    Aberrant reward-related decision making is robustly associated with Gambling Disorder (GD). However, its precise role in the etiology of GD is not yet understood. This study investigated the possible role of two aspects of reward-related decision making, delay discounting (DD) and probabilistic discounting (DD), in the maintenance of GD. Additionally, it investigated the potential moderating role of substance misuse on the association between DD and GD. 434 participants with symptoms of current or past GD and symptoms of current or past substance use disorder (SUD), as well as healthy controls completed online self-report questionnaires of gambling participation, GD and SUD symptomology, and a randomly adjusting DD and PD task. Overall, the findings suggest that PD may be involved in the maintenance of GD, while DD may have greater involvement in the etiology of GD.
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    The Technical Hypothesis of Motivational Interviewing: An Examination of Change Language in Traditional and Computer-based MI for Disordered Gamblers
    (2019-04-12) Swan, Jennifer L.; Hodgins, David Carson; McGrath, Daniel S.; Currie, Shawn R.; Mudry, Tanya E.; Goldstein, Abby L.
    Background: Motivational interviewing (MI) has shown promise as a brief treatment for disordered gamblers. The technical hypothesis of MI purports that MI-consistent therapist behaviours result in greater change language on the part of the client, which in turn leads to a more favourable outcome. The present research builds on existing literature examining client change language as the mechanism by which MI promotes behaviour change among disordered gamblers in telephone MIs (Study 1), a web-based MI program (Study 2), and in a controlled, computerized task (Study 3). Method: Transcription and coding of 50 brief MIs with disordered gamblers and path analyses was used to examine the links between therapist and client behaviours and outcome (Study 1). Multiple regression was used to examine 45 transcripts from the web-based program (Study 2). Linear mixed models were used to examine the effect of a brief, controlled, MI-consistent task on 335 participants’ self-reported importance and confidence of gambling-related behaviour change. Results: Results broadly supported previous findings that therapist MI-consistent behaviours were significantly associated with higher rates of both sustain and change language. Commitment language did not significantly predict outcome; however, the relationship between outcome and the proportion of change to sustain language approached significance. For the web-based program, only the negative relationship between participants’ sustain language and outcome approached significance. The controlled task in Study 3 did not significantly affect participant outcome; all conditions reported changes in importance, confidence, and gambling behaviour. Conclusions: Implications for treatment of disordered gambling, web-based treatments, and future research in MI are discussed.